Opposition Senators Rough Tackle Akpabio Over Minority Leaders

BY VICTOR BUORO – The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio swarmed in stormy waters on Tuesday following his announcement of two new minority leaders for the upper legislative Chamber.

Following the Court of Appeal ruling sacking the former occupants, Senator Simon Davou Mwadkwon (PDP), Plateau North and Darlington Nwokocha (LP) Abia Central) respectively, the Senate Minority Leader and Minority Whip positions had become vacant, thereby justifying the need for new officers to be elected.

Accordingly, at Tuesday’s plenary, Senator Akpabio announced the PDP duo of Abba Moro, representing Benue South as Minority Leader, and Osita Ngwu (Enugu West) as Minority Whip, saying that the new minority leaders enjoyed the majority support of their colleagues in the opposition.

Despite explaining that 41 minority senators signed the document endorsing Moro as Minority Leader while 30 others queued behind Ngwu for the Minority Whip position, Senator Akpabio’s announcement did not go down well with other parties in the minority caucus, especially members of the Labour Party.

The development drew the ire of other minority parties, with Senator Okechukwu Ezea of LP, representing Enugu North, leading the charge to protest his party’s absence in the minority leadership.

Describing the arrangement as an injustice against other minority parties. the angry LP lawmaker said; “How can the PDP take three minority leadership seats? This is unfair, unjust, and unacceptable”.

As the plenary degenerated into a rancorous session with LP lawmakers faulting their party’s exclusion in the minority leadership, Senator Tony Nwoye (LP), representing Anambra North accused Akpabio of engineering the handpicking minority leaders for the opposition parties.

A furious Nwoye could be heard yelling at the Senate President; “How can you be choosing minority leaders for us? Are we your slaves? You have done your worst. You have pushed us to the wall. Meaning what? It is unfair. It is not about me, it is about the institution of the state.”

However, it took the intervention of lawmakers from the ruling APC to calm the frayed nerves of their LP counterparts even as some of them approached Akpabio for consultation.

After about 15 minutes of heightened tension and hot exchanges, the Senate President dismissed claims of his interference in the affairs of the opposition, submitting that he only announced the names forwarded to him by the opposition caucus.

Further noting that it would be unfair not to respect the voice of the majority, the Senate President urged the opposition caucus to always put their house in order before forwarding any name to him.

“All we need to produce a leader is a simple majority. What’s the reason for not agreeing with the position of the majority? 41 minority senators signed for Abah Moro and 30 signed for Osita Ngwu. They have the majority. It would be unfair for me not to announce them after getting a majority of support. My job is not to work with individual opinions but with the majority of positions”, he said.

With the tension coming down, moves by Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi) for the Senate President to stay action on the Minority Whip position failed as he was ruled out of order with Akpabio referring him to Senate Standing Rule 52(6), that says it shall be out of order for any senator to speak on any issue that has already been decided.

Recalled that the Appellate courts nullified the election of Mwadkwon and ordered a rerun while Nwokocha was removed with Augustine Akobundu of the PDP declared as the valid winner of the 25 February Parliamentary poll in the senatorial district.

Last week, the PDP senators held an emergency meeting on the replacement for the principal positions of Senate Minority Leader and Minority Whip with Senator Garba Maidoki (PDP, Bauchi) briefing the media that opposition lawmakers had settled for the North Central geo-political zone to produce the Minority Leader.